SO SAD: It’s Is With Heavy Heart Racers Announce the passing Away Of ‘Kyle Larson’ Who Was Involved In…

It makes me feel a bit guilty to say that, because a lot of people have worked hard to make iRacing on television a suitable replacement for actual racing during the coronavirus-created hiatus. Everyone needs some positive distractions right now, and these races seemed to fit the bill at first. But after four of these things … I’m sorry. I just can’t do it.

We gave it a shot for awhile. The first few weeks, I treated the Pro Invitational Series events much the same as any other race: A virtual pre-race tweetup, in-race tweets, a postrace podcast, this postrace column and even a “Quiet Track” picture. With real-life NASCAR on pause, I selfishly wanted to cover the eNASCAR races like actual ones instead of just a video game. Why not? We all need content, right?

And after the first two races at virtual Homestead-Miami Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, I was filled with optimism these could be a decent substitute for the real thing. No, they weren’t the same. But the broadcasts seemed fun, fresh, engaging and entertaining.

I’m not sure what changed, but something did. Actually, I don’t think it’s one thing specifically. It’s not just the real-life consequences of Kyle Larson’s racial slur or Bubba Wallace’s rage-quitting/sponsor blowup. It’s not just the constant format changes or the politics of deciding who gets invited to race and who doesn’t. It’s not just the novelty wearing off.